India: Bengaluru's tech-savvy auto driver is going viral as he flips smartwatch for QR code payment

Bengaluru, situated in India’s southern Karnataka state, is famously known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ as it is the country’s leading information technology (IT) exporter. The city is a dream place for every engineer or tech-savvy person in the country. In this IT hub of India, even an auto rickshaw driver knows how to utilise the technology for the better.

A 23-year-old auto-rickshaw driver from Mandya, a city in Karnataka, stunned his passenger by using his smartwatch to take payment.

Chandan flipped out his smartwatch when a woman passenger had to make a payment.

The smartwatch has a Quick Response (QR) code that can be scanned by any online payment app to make a payment.

Netizens loved this ‘Peak Bengaluru’ moment

The woman passenger, an X (formerly Twitter) user @waabi_saabi, first posted about it on the social media platform.

When her trip ended and it was time for her to pay, the driver flicked his wrist to wake his smartwatch up from the sleeping screen and asked her to scan the (Unified Payments Interface) UPI QR code on his watch.

The woman shared a picture of the incident on X and used the “peak Bengaluru” tag, which is used often for posts on Bengaluru city's tech and start-up culture, among other things including "hipster" incidents.

“Today I met namma Tony Stark in @nammayatri. Asked my auto driver for the QR code. Man flipped his hand and showed me his smartwatch. Turns out he's saved the QR code as his smartwatch screensaver. So much swag, @peakbengaluru,” she wrote.

The woman booked an auto ride on the Namma Yatri, an auto-booking app.

Her post has since then gone viral, garnering over 360,000 views, more than 7,500 likes and 700 reposts at the time this article was being written.

Internet users flooded the comment section with wholesome replies.

“I absolutely love hearing and telling these little observations that I have only experienced in Bangalore,” a user replied.

“I love to take autos and hear their stories heart out. It's wonderful!” another said.

Other responses included “That's why it's called the Silicon Valley of India. There must be something unique,” and “That is the kind of peak Bengaluru I like to see.”

Social media users were all-praisefor the auto driver, posting replies like “Legend”, “Impressive” and “Digital India”.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE